As the nation grapples with addiction and opioid-fueled overdose epidemic, the federal government has proposed new guidelines for prescribing opioid painkillers in the first comprehensive revision of the rules since 2016. The CDC proposalremoves a previously recommended ceiling on doses for chronic pain patients, while also urging physicians to first turn to “nonopioid therapies” such as over-the-counter ones like ibuprofen as well as physical therapy, massage, and acupuncture. The guidelines—which do not apply to patients suffering pain from cancer, sickle cell, or end-of-life palliative care—remove lower dosing levels that many chronic pain patients felt were unfair, but which led to a large reduction in prescriptions as part of efforts to curb the opioid epidemic. The CDC wants doctors to have more flexibility on dosing, while clearly stating the potential risks of prescribing highly addictive opioids.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will address a related issue when it takes up the case of two doctors convicted of unlawfully dispensing opioid painkillers. The question before the court is, what threshold do physicians have to cross—and what sort of intent do they need to have—for prescribing to be considered a crime? Doctors are free to prescribe controlled substances such as opioids, but can also be criminally liable if they prescribe the medication in dangerous ways. Health officials are grappling with these questions in the wake of the opioid epidemic, which was fuelled by massive overprescribing of prescription painkillers.
And finally, the American Heart Associationsays that despite the perception that marijuana is harmless, there’s a growing body of evidence challenging that belief, and there are many unanswered questions about its impact on brain health. At a time when both recreational and medical marijuana is more available due to legalization, current research suggests that actively using the drug can impact verbal memory, driving ability, cognitive functions in children, as well as clot-caused stroke.